still married

(Post title is a reference to/shameless ripoff of Keillor's book.)

The Excellent Wife (TEW) and I have a wedding anniversary at this time of year. This year is our 16th (I have no idea how that happened), and TEW set up an excellent date (we have this system that works for us, because I am clueless when it comes to goin' out & doin' stuff: she makes the plans, and I do most of the driving and the paying).

After a trip to Penzey's in Philadelphia, we headed over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Rodin Museum. We're members of the PMA, and we've been talking about stopping in at the Rodin Museum for years (we pass it when we walk from the PMA to the Reading Terminal Market). The Rodin Museum is a little gem. Most of the collection was donated by a movie mogul named Mastbaum (who made sure he got credit; a bust of him is in a focal point in the room - but, hey, if he's gonna spend his money that way, he can certainly get a credit for it!). For folks who know Rodin: They've got a casting of the Gates of Hell, several Balzac's, a Burghers of Calais, and (of course) a Thinker out front. For those who don't: Rodin was a sculptor who worked in clay, then had many of his works done in plaster to be made into bronze castings. Rodin was a great sculptor, and part of the reason he's neat is that he integrates the sculpting process - tool marks, the marks of the clay itself - into the final works; he was one of the first to do this (although there are sculptures by Michelangelo that do it, too). It's not an all-day attraction, but it's a good visit.

Then on to the PMA itself, where there is an ongoing series of "Art after Five". We saw the Hot Club of Philadelphia, a Gypsy Jazz group (the name of the group is a reference to Django Reinhardt's band, the Hot Club de France). While the stone lobby of the Museum is not the ideal place to hear this kind of band, it was a great show, and not the kind of thing to which we would normally go.

Then to dinner at Walnut Hill Restaurant School. We went to the CIA (no, not that CIA) a few years ago, and had good luck, and our luck was borne out again. The food was good (and inexpensive, for what we got!). These are students who are looking to run restaurants and food services. My idea is that they are interested in cooking and need to learn about management, so I count on good food, but I expect the service to be friendly and inefficient (which it kinda was). The kids are workin' so hard, though, it's hard to find fault with 'em.

It was a great date. How on earth did I stay married to TEW for sixteen years?